The man who received the world's first pig heart transplant once stabbed a man seven times leaving him paralyzed, his victim's family have revealed.
David Bennett, 57, was convicted of the 1988 bar stabbing of Edward Shumaker, his sister told BBC's Today programme.
Leslie Shumaker Downey said that her brother died in 2007 after almost two decades of medical complications linked to the attack.
She said Mr Bennett is an unworthy recipient of the pioneering surgery.
The attack took place in April 1988 when Mr Bennett's wife sat on the lap of Mr Shumaker, who was 22, Ms Downey said.
In an apparent jealous rage, Mr Bennett stabbed Mr Shumaker in the back repeatedly.
Mr Bennett was found guilty of battery and carrying a concealed weapon and was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Ms Downey said nobody had contacted her about Mr Bennett receiving the pig heart, and only heard the news when her daughter messaged her.
"My second daughter sent me an instant message and said: 'Mum, this is the man who stabbed uncle Ed.' I then read the story and got angry because he had received the heart," she said.
